Rude Stone Monuments in All Countries: Their Age and UsesFergusson, James
History
Rude Stone Monuments in All Countries: Their Age and Uses
Fergusson, James
Megalithic monuments
Among the remaining groups of stones in England, one of the most
important is--or rather was--that in front of Aylesford in Kent. The
best known member of this group is that known as Kit's Cotty--or
Coity-house, which has, however, been so often drawn and described
that it is hardly necessary to do much more than refer to it here.
It is a dolmen, composed of four stones, three upright; the two
side stones being about 8 feet square and 2 in thickness, the third
somewhat smaller; these form three sides of a chamber, the fourth
side being--and apparently always having been--left open. These
three support a cap stone measuring 11 feet by 8 feet. If we can
trust Stukeley's drawing,[134] it was an external dolmen standing on
the end of a low long barrow. At the other end of the mound lay an
obelisk, since removed, but in Stukeley's time it was said to mark
"the general's grave." The mound has since been levelled by the
plough, but the whole forms an arrangement so common both in England
and in Scandinavia, that I am inclined to place faith in the drawing.
So little, however, hinges on it here that it is not worth while
insisting on it, but a trench across the site of the barrow might lead
to interesting results. Nearly due south of Kit's Cotty-house, at the
distance of about 500 yards, is another monument of the same class,
popularly known as the Countless Stones, but so ruined--apparently
by searchers after treasure--that its plan cannot now be made out.
In Stukeley's time, however, it was more perfect, and as his pencil
is always more to be trusted than his pen, it may be worth while to
reproduce his drawings,[135] for the arrangement of the stones was
peculiar, but may have analogies elsewhere. Between these two a third
dolmen is said to have existed within the memory of man, but no trace
of it is now to be found. In the rear of these groups, nearer the
village, there exists, or existed, a line of great stones, extending
from a place called Spring Farm, in a north-easterly direction, for
a distance of three-quarters of a mile, to another spot known as
Hale Farm,[136] passing through Tollington, where the greater number
of the stones are now found. In front of the line near the centre
at Tollington lie two obelisks, known to the country people as the
coffin-stones--probably from their shape. They are 12 feet long by 4 to
6 broad, and about 2 or 3 feet thick.[137] They appear to be partially
hewn, or at least shaped, so as to resemble one another.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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